Myself and my boyfriend travelled from Huay Zai to Luang Prabang via the slow boat arriving yesterday evening. The whole trip went without a hitch, we even arrived an hour or so earlier than we had expected. However we were soon to find out that the reason we were early was because we were not at the slow boat arrival port in the centre of Luang Prabang we were at the 'new' port which was located approximately 10km outside of the centre. Conveniently there were a line of tuk tuk drivers at the top of the hill waiting to transport us to the centre.
A gentleman on board the boat had travelled the same boat route before assured us that this was not the correct port, we double checked our guides and our tickets for any shred of evidence that the port had changed but nothing came up. Another passenger claimed to have heard about a similar scam and said if we waited out and demanded to be taken onwards the driver would eventually give in and continue. We began a waiting game, with various passengers talking to the captain and others who seemed to be linked to the boat but the excuses were all different, examples such as the other dock is broken, other boats are allowed to use it but this one cannot etc... There were no legitimate or cohesive answers.
After we waited on board for 45 minutes or longer we got word that said apparently there was new legislation enforced as of April this year which stated this was the new port. On the back of this news we resigned to the fact we were not going to win and left the boat. Most of us gave in and negotiated cheaper prices with tuk tuk drivers while a few hardcore travellers walked!
We have searched for information on this Internet to try clarify if a new law has changed the arrival port, nothing has turned up. Also we walked down to the port in the centre today and there were at least 3 or 4 slow boats docked there. All of the passengers on board booked tickets based on the assumption we were being dropped in the centre of Luang Prabang and if a new port is being used we should have been informed by the ticket seller or the booking agents.
If you are booking tickets beware you could end up paying for a tuk tuk too, ask travel agents and the boat captain to clarify the drop off point so that you are getting all the information.
It's a pity the trip ended like it did, so many people had enjoyed it thoroughly and the end left a sour taste in a lot of mouths!
